POWER SERAYA GENERATORS' SWITCH TO ORIMULSION

Column No : 1929

POWER SERAYA GENERATORS' SWITCH TO ORIMULSION

20.

Dr Geh Min asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (a) what will be the environmental impact of Power Seraya's switch to Orimulsion for three of its power generators; (b) if an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was done; and (c) if so, whether the results of this study can be made available.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: In 2001, Power Seraya proposed to retrofit three of its fuel oil electricity generating units to use orimulsion. As with all major industrial and power plant projects, Power Seraya was required to conduct an environmental Pollution Control Study (PCS) to assess the environmental pollution impact of the proposed retrofitting. Power Seraya engaged a specialist consultant to prepare a PCS report which is available for public access from Power Seraya on a request basis.

The PCS report ascertained that without pollution control, the combustion of orimulsion would emit higher levels of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM) than fuel oil currently permitted for use in electricity generation in Singapore. It therefore recommended appropriate pollution control measures to mitigate these impacts. These measures include installing (i) flue gas desulphurisation equipment to remove SO2 in the flue gas and convert it into calcium sulphate, which is a useful product commonly known as gypsum; and (ii) high-efficiency electrostatic precipitators to remove PM in the flue gas.

With these equipment, the use of orimulsion by Power Seraya would not only comply with the pollution standards stipulated in the Environmental Pollution Control Act (EPCA) and its Regulations, the SO2 and PM emissions would be 70% and 60% lower than fuel oil power plants respectively. NEA therefore approved Power Seraya’s proposal.

Power Seraya has since completed the conversion of its three fuel oil power generators to fire orimulsion, including the installation of the necessary pollution control equipment. NEA will be monitoring the operations and emissions of these generating units to ensure that they comply fully with the EPCA.

The combustion of orimulsion for power generation would however emit 4% more carbon dioxide (CO2) than fuel oil. This was taken into consideration when Power Seraya’s proposal was evaluated in 2001. The assessment was that the fuel cost savings that would translate indirectly into lower electricity prices, as well as the lower SO2 and PM emissions, outweighed the disadvantage of a marginal increase in CO2 emissions. The higher CO2 emissions could be offset by more cost-effective means of CO2 reduction in other areas.